The new "cool" thing to have in Olympia these days is a bumper sticker that proudly proclaims "I don't shop at wal-mart." For some odd reason, everytime I get behind a car proudly displaying this sticker, I can't help but want a sticker that says, "I shop at wal-mart".
What bothers me is not that people don't shop at Wal-Mart, shop wherever the heck you want, I don't care, but it's the fact that people see this sticker as a badge of honor. I shop there sometimes, but when I'm looking for specific things I go to my local specialty shop. "Walmart puts all the local shops out of business!" they tell us. I don't know about where you live, but every area I've been to that has a wal-mart, still has plenty of small businesses. "But walmart treats their employees unfairly, so nobody can compete with their prices!" Although this statement is quite untrue, even if it was, the "mom and pop" shops can always compete by the service they deliver, that walmart can't.
The thing that really gets to me is that the only people really leading campaigns against walmart are unions. Hmmm.... I wonder why that could be?
The whole issue was brought to my attention again yesterday when I recieved a mailing from the local United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW 21), that included an invitation to the "Change Wal-Mart, Change America Bus Tour" event in Seattle. Apparently walmart is such an awful place that the union needed to organize an anti walmart bus to travel around the nation and bad mouth the company. And of course the guests of honor were none other than Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell. Surprised? I know I am...........

I decided to take a look at what this bus tour was all about, and unfortunately found out. I stumbled through the website and found their "Six Demands for Change". They include;

Living Wage.
Affordable Health Care.
End Discrimination.
Zero Tolerance on Child Labor.
Buy American.
Respect Communities.

I put these here for one reason, and that is to address them. The first is a living wage. Tell me how many other businesses will hire, at any wage, a lot of the people that walmart employs? I'm not saying they're bad employees, but they're usually relatively undereducated people, that didn't have a job before walmart came to town. Walmart's wages are competitive in the market. In the state of Washington the average wage for regular, full-time hourly associates in Washington is $10.61 per hour. On top of that walmart recently announced that it was raising its starting wage in many places and adding more incentive raises. "Additionally, Wal-Mart announced that the company was raising pay increases for those associates displaying excellent annual performance and customer service."

The one card walmart hater's love to play, and my favorite one to shoot down, is health care. First of all, claiming that walmart doesn't offer affordable health care is simply untrue. Employees working over 34 hours a week have access to health insurance for as little as $11 in some states. In Washington employees can get health care for $21 a month. I don't know about you, but I would love to pay only $21 a month, and I work for the state. Another complaint is that they don't offer benefits for 1 year for part time workers. This is not a walmart specific thing. Retail traditionally has a very high turnover rate and most employers have a waiting period. The stat that really kills me is how many employees are on, or not on, walmart's plan. Walmart has 47% of their employees on the walmart health plan. Starbucks, revered for being socially responsible, and treating their employees well, only covers 42% of their employees. What company needs to look at their health care plan? The walmart number also doesn't include the elderly, which walmart employs many of, that are often on medicaire, or employees that are insured through other means such as their spouse or the state. The state is the big issue in all of this. A major complaint by the democrats is that walmart is passing its health care bill onto the state because there is a high percentage of walmart employees on the state basic health plan. But let me ask you this. If I say you can pay $21 a month and get minimal coverage, or you can get comprehensive coverage for free from the state, which are you going to choose? Therein lies the real issue.

I was a little surprised by the "end discrimination" claim, but if it really is an issue I fully support walmart correcting it. Unfortunately, I couldn't find what they facts they were basing this attack on.

Then of course you have the "end child labor". What would a liberal propoganda piece be without trying to save the world. Wake-up walmart suggest that walmart "adopt a zero tolerance policy and institute an independent monitoring program to stop the exploitation of child labor in the United States and abroad." Wow. Don't even know where to start. But I guess if walmart has to create an independent monitoring program, so should every business. If walmart knowingly supports child labor that's a different issue in itself, but requiring a company to research every source of every product they sell, is ludicrous. Its like asking a gas station to make sure none of their gas came from oil, that came from an area where employees didn't follow OSHA regulations.

"Buy American". Great idea. Force a business to stock a certain percentage of American goods? bad idea. If somebody wants to buy American that's a very good choice, but it is their choice. Forcing a company to stock American made goods is basically trying to create a command market. It is a step towards communism. You can sell this, you can't sell that. The real irony I find in all of this though, is that the people who want to support American jobs, would just assume shut down one of the nation's leading employer's.

Apparently, Wake up walmart feels that walmart needs to do a better job of respecting the communities that they are in. With the jobs it brings the community, and the taxes it pays the state, I feel walmart does a fine job of respecting their community. They are held to such a higher standard, yet they continue to succeed, and give back to the community. "In 2005, Wal-Mart Stores and SAM'S CLUB gave $2,361,680 in cash and in-kind donations to local causes and organizations in the communities they serve in the state of Washington. Through additional funds raised through stores and Clubs throughout the state, Wal-Mart contributed and raised a grand total of $3,130,264 as a result of its presence in Washington." That sounds like a pretty good contribution if you ask me.

Well, if you made it this far in the post, I say all that to say this. I didn't do this to defend walmart specifically, but to expose the anti-business mentality that is out there. I shop at walmart and will continue to do so, and the only benefit I see from this Wake up walmart bus tour is that it identifies people, and especially politicians, who are anti-business. I won't forget this in November.

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